


Into the Garden

by Fire_Bear



Series: APH Yuri Week 2016 [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: APH Yuri Week 2016, Day 2, F/F, Fairies, First Meetings, Gardens & Gardening, Magic, Shrinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-15 13:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7223575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mei is sheltered by her parents and, feeling cooped up, she makes a wish for an adventure - she just didn't expect instant results...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Garden

Stomping into her room, Mei slammed the door and collapsed onto the bed. As she bounced on the soft mattress, she threw her small, black bag across the room. Then she let herself fall back, her hair splaying around her head in a halo, and crossed her arms over her stomach. It just wasn't fair! All of her friends were going to the party – if she wasn't there, she'd miss out on _everything_.

The party wasn't the only thing Mei's parents didn't let her do. She wasn't allowed to go to the parks on the edge of town. She wasn't allowed to go bowling or any other public place at night without a chaperone. She wasn't allowed to forgo her homework to go get ice cream with the girls. She probably wasn't allowed a relationship either but, luckily, she'd never had to confront her parents about that. Not yet, at least. If her parents weren't with her, she doubted she'd be allowed to go on holiday. As it was, she was bored of her mediocre life and she was constantly wishing on stars for  _something_ to happen.

A sudden, quiet noise from the open window made her sit up, frowning in its direction. The setting sun shone through it, illuminating the room with a golden glow. Another small noise convinced her to rise and make her way over, peering through it as she approached.

Movement caught her eye and she looked up to find a moth trapped in a spider's web. Thankfully, the spider was out of sight; Mei still shuddered at the thought that a spider had been in her room. The moth, though, was rather beautiful with swirling designs on the dark brown of its wings. Mei decided that the insect must have flown in during the day when the window had been left wide in an effort to keep the room cool. It would have been confused as to how its exit had disappeared when Mei's mother had pulled the window over so the room didn't get too cold in preparation for Mei going to bed.

Taking pity on the trapped creature, Mei opened the window, shivering slightly in the breeze. Perhaps her dress  _was_ a little short, coming to just above her knees and with only straps to hold it up. She paused to rub the warmth back into her arms before reaching up to the web. Grimacing at what she was doing, she grabbed at some of the silk the moth was attached to and pulled. Once again she shuddered, this time at the tickling feeling of the silk against her skin. As quickly as she could, Mei threw the piece of web and the still struggling moth out of the window. She watched as it fell for a few inches before it managed to free itself and flap its wings properly. It rose from its fall and fluttered around, heading for the wall of the house and out of Mei's line of sight.

Alone once again, Mei stared out at the garden she couldn't reach, not with her parents currently guarding the doors. She could see the deep red of the roses on their bush in the middle of the large space and the white bobbing heads of the lilies nearby. Pale pink and white hydrangea sent a waft of sweet smelling fragrance towards the teenager who breathed in deep, relishing in the scent. At the far end of the garden, just beginning to get in the way of the sun, was her mother's precious plum tree. There were no leaves upon it as it was already dead but Mei's mother did everything she could to make keep, using new methods to try to revive it. Mei thought they should just remove it, open up the view, but her parents never listened to her.

If only it was a little closer, she thought, I could climb out and follow that moth to freedom...

She began to imagine what the insect's journey would be like, flying towards the bark and safety. Maybe the moth would stop to speak to some bees working at the roses. Perhaps a butterfly would ask what it was doing up so early. There might even be other insects around that it could talk to. Ah, but, over on the lawn was a sparrow – what if it attacked? Mei felt a rush of exhilaration as she imagined the epic battle that could unfold as all the moth's friends banded together to help it.

Suddenly, a feeling of being cooped up struck her: she wanted to be as free as the moth, even if the moth would likely die in a few days. Sighing, she murmured, “I wish  _I_ could have an adventure...”

Without warning, she felt a falling sensation. Gasping, her eyes flew open and she watched as the windowsill became further and further away. Mei flailed and tried to grab hold of something but she was too late and she closed her eyes tight in preparation for the impact. When nothing happened, she slowly opened her eyes and found herself on the floor, her head close to the pastel pink wall beneath the window. Confused, she tried to push herself to her feet – only to realise she was still on them.

Shocked, Mei stared down at them. How could she be on her feet if the skirting board was far too close to her face? She looked up and spotted a ledge set into the wall far above her, the curtains framing it and flapping in the slight breeze. As she gazed up at it, dazed, a distant face popped out to look down at her. Whoever it was appeared to have short, blonde hair and started speaking to Mei. However, because Mei was now too far from the windowsill, she could only hear bits of what the person was saying.

“... sorry! … trying... didn't... shrink... okay?”

Unsure what to do, Mei stood frozen, staring up at whoever was there. She wasn't sure whether to shout back, make her way closer or, justifiably, freak out about having been shrunk to the size of a mouse. For a while, nothing happened. Then the person began speaking again and Mei realised that whoever it was expected a response. So she shook herself from her panic and, mind still in a whirl, she took a breath and shouted to the person.

“I can't hear you! What are you saying? Who are you?”

There was no response for a while, the person unmoving. Mei was just beginning to get impatient when she saw the person shake their head. Obviously, they hadn't heard her either. Sighing, Mei looked around for something to help her. However, everything that lay on the floor was too large for her to write with or create a megaphone with or merely useless for the situation. Instead, she noted that, despite being far smaller than she was used to, she was still able to reach the bottom of the curtains.

Rolling up her metaphorical sleeves, Mei started towards the nearest one. As an afterthought, she shouted up to the person, asking them to wait. When she reached the curtain, she reached up as high as she could and grabbed hold before pulling herself as far as she could. She pulled up her dangling legs and gripped the curtain between her knees before releasing her handhold and reaching up again. Thus, she climbed the curtain.

As she did so, the repetitive movements helped her to think through the situation. She had wished to go on an adventure and now she was tiny. And there was another tiny person on the windowsill. Thinking back further, she suddenly remembered that she had lain back on her bed. Had she fumed there for so long that she had fallen asleep? Was this all a dream? Mei decided it must be – how else could you explain what had happened?

Since she had convinced herself of that fact, she expected to see one of her friends waiting for her when she finally hauled herself onto the windowsill, panting and sweating. Mei ran the back of her wrist across her forehead to wipe the sweat away before she focussed on the person. What she saw made her stare in shock. The person was a girl around her age and the same height with her blonde hair cut into a bob. A white ribbon was tied into her hair, the bow neatly set at an angle. Her dress was white and looked somewhat like the flowers of the lilies in the garden, only upside down, the bottom of it stopping at her thighs. She wore no shoes or socks and her feet were turned inward as she bashfully waited for Mei to finish her inspection. With only that, Mei thought she was quite pretty. However, the most beautiful part of her were definitely the wings: they were so thin as to be invisible, though they shimmered as she shifted slightly. For a moment, Mei was mesmerised. Then the girl cleared her throat and Mei gave a cry of surprise.

“You're a fairy!”

“Um, yes,” said the girl. “Were you expecting something else?”

“No- Well... Yes. I thought this was a dream...” Mei trailed off, not sure she had explained her thought process well.

“I'm sorry,” the fairy said, grimacing. “I wanted to repay you for saving me so I cast a spell to make your next wish come true – just as you wished for an adventure... This wasn't meant to happen, though. I'm not sure what I did wrong or if it was the wrong spell to use...” Miserably, the girl began to clasp and unclasp her hands.

“Wait,” said Mei, holding up a hand and frowning. “When did I save you?”

“Oh! When you were Big-sized, you got me free from the web. Nobody Big-sized can see us – we have glamours to stop people from seeing us, just in case. It's Fairy Law.”

Mei continued frowning till she realised what the fairy meant. “Oh! You were the moth!”

The fairy smiled and nodded. “Yes. My name is Lili and I'm the Flower Fairy for the garden's lilies.” Lili curtsied. “Pleased to meet you...?”

“I'm Mei. You're always in the garden?”

“Yes. As are others... Oh, if only Arthur was here – he'd know how to turn you back.”

“You don't know how-?!” Mei began before pausing. She _had_ wished for an adventure and, now that she was so small, perhaps she _could_ have a bit of an adventure before she returned home. Her parents wouldn't disturb her until it was time for school in a couple of days – they knew she liked to sulk and avoid them after not getting her way. So if she asked Lili to take her into the garden to find this Arthur, she could not only have an adventure but also see what the world was like for a moth: she would be able to live her dream, even if it was only a passing fantasy. Turning, she looked out of the window at the distant plum tree – because she was both so small and far away, she had the disconcerting view of the garden being both far larger yet the same as normal.

“I could go fetch him,” Lili was saying. He's not too far, as the fairy flies. If he's away from his precious roses, I'll go find my brother instead. Though that might take a little longer as he's further away...”

Mind made up, Mei nodded to herself and turned back to Lili. “Could you take me with you?”

“Huh?” Lili blinked at her, looking quite perplexed. “But you don't have any wings.”

“I'm sure you're strong enough to carry me...?” Mei suggested, making sure to make her expression pleading. It had never worked on her parents but maybe with Lili...

Fiddling with her fingers, Lili appeared to think about it, staring into the garden. Then the fairy nodded, clasped her fingers and looked up at Mei with a determined expression. “I can try,” she said. “It might be quicker for you to go to Arthur, anyway – you'd be back to normal in half the time.”

“Yeah!” said Mei, grinning at Lili.

The fairy held out her arms. “You'll have to hold on, all right?”

They both stared at each other. Then, when the realisation of what she'd have to do hit her, Mei averted her gaze, her cheeks growing hot. They would both have to hold each other tightly and Mei felt a mixture of anticipation (for the adventure?) and hesitance; the situation seemed a lot more forward than what she had been expecting. Couldn't Lili merely hold her hand and magically make her lighter? Remembering how she had gotten into the predicament, however, Mei took a deep breath and, with a murmured apology, stepped into Lili's embrace. She wrapped her arms around Lili's waist and felt the fairy wrap hers around Mei's shoulders.

“Are you ready?” Lili asked.

Mei tightened her grip and tried not to blush. “Yes.”

“Then here we go!”

With that, Lili crouched slightly before she pushed herself up and out of the window. Mei could hear her wings fluttering quickly, sounding much like moths' wings when they were trapped against something. She could also see a slight haze behind Lili as those shimmering wings flapped at a high rate. For a moment, they were suspended, moving towards the middle of the garden. Then Mei heard Lili gasp and they began to drop. Before Mei could say or do anything, their slow descent abruptly sped up and they both fell into the bushes below Mei's window, hitting a few of the hydrangea as they went.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to have more hints that they were gonna fall in love - like the prince and Thumbelina. But, well, I had more ideas for a longer story and so this is just the start of their adventure. And they’ll get to know each other and grow closer. I’m not sure if I captured their personalities well. ^^”
> 
> Oh, and, Mei was supposed to live with her Asian siblings but then Kiku was granted the role of Spring Fairy (there’s Summer, Autumn and Winter ones, too) and that kinda fell through, what with the other ideas I had...


End file.
